


Shadow and Bone

by simonsjumpers



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam is the Sun Summoner and Ronan is the Darkling, Basically a Grisha AU, Blue is Mal, Dark, Gansey is Nikolai, M/M, Multi, it's gonna be cool I swear, light - Freeform, pynch - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 12:59:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7574911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simonsjumpers/pseuds/simonsjumpers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Grisha AU my dreams have been plaguing me with.</p>
<p>Adam Parrish thinks he's an ordinary soldier, but one battle forces him to realise his unique power which thrusts him into the world of the kingdom's magical elite -- the Grisha. He faces the Darkling (Ronan), a man of seductive charm and terrifying power. </p>
<p>This follows the narrative of Shadow and Bone but all the characters are from the Raven Cycle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadow and Bone

**Author's Note:**

> I stuck very close to Leigh Bardugo's original text for the opening chapter because I wanted to set up the world as beautifully as she does. I promise the plagiarism will not continue.

On the edge of a crowded road, Adam Parrish looked down onto the rolling fields and abandoned farms. In the distance was the Shadow Fold, his regiment was about two weeks’ march away. He shivered at the thought of that dirty smudge on the horizon.

 

Stop it, he told himself. You’re making things worse. People have been crossing the Fold for years… usually with massive casualties but all the same.

 

“No fainting in the middle of the road,” said a voice close to his ear as a light arm landed across his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. He looked down to see Blue’s familiar face, a smile in her eyesfull of stars. 

 

“If I faint I won’t be able to cross the Fold.”

 

“I see. I can shove you under a cart if you think that would help.”

 

“No, that’s a problem, you see if I could get back up again then I’d be the one fixing the cart.”

 

Adam was in charge of things like that in his regiment, not a fighter, a fixer. Blue, however, was always at the helm, their navigator — she had that talent. Even when they were children, Blue would lead him on adventures away from the orphanage he lived at. Those days, visits to Blue’s families' cottage or across fields and meadows were the best memories he had — the times away from the abuse of the man in charge.

 

“Aren’t you scared?” Adam asked. Blue always seemed jolly when they were approaching their destination — even if this time it was the Fold.

 

“No, our crossing will be death-free. I hear the King’s sending Grisha to help our passage.”

 

Adam scoffed. That’s the last thing he needed. Grisha at the camp parading around in luxury while he and the rest of the soldiers stewed in their rusty tents.

 

As if Adam had summoned them, suddenly, a Grisha coach clattered down the road towards them. Blue tanked him to the side of the road as the huge black coach roared past, purposefully scattering crowds just to cause a scene. 

 

The Darkling. There was no mistaking his black coach or uniform of his personal guard — a sneering boy who looked like he could set you on fire.

 

“They could at least watch where they’re going,” Blue whispered under her breath to him.

 

All around them, other soldiers were grumbling similar things. _He’s not natural_. _One of his kind made the Shadow Fold in the first place_. _They say he has no heart or soul, nothing but darkness, that’s why they call him the Darkling_. That one wasn’t quite true, he was called the Darkling because his Grisha supernatural power allowed him total control of darkness. _Whatever that meant_ , Adam thought. There wasn’t much material Adam could use to study him. He knew all about the other Grisha, but the Darkling remained a mystery to him.

 

—

 

The next morning passed in a blur. Ahead lay the shifting darkness of the Fold. 

 

Adam, stood on the deck of the skiff that would be crossing the Fold, looked for Blue. She was tiny in the mass of tall soldiers but Adam managed to catch a glimpse of her standing with the other navigators. She gave him a shy smile and a thumbs-up. At the moment, the skiff began to move, and he lost her in the crowd. 

 

At first, it was like drifting into a thick cloud of smoke. No heat, no smell of fire — just darkness. The world was still.

 

All around him, he could hear the breathing of his comrades. He tried to steady himself on the rhythm on breaths in and breaths out. He had been hit enough to know how to stay still and calm even if your head was roaring in fear. 

 

He heard the girl next to him breath’s hitch. Then she was gone.

 

The air filled with screeching, and soldiers began to fire their rifles in terror. Screams echoed in the darkness. Adam tried to orientate himself, to find something to shoot at but he couldn’t see anything in the pitch black. One by one, men and woman around him began to disappear — shot down by wondering bullets or swept up into the sky by the Volcra. He saw a boy younger than him clutching at the railing of the skiff trying to hold on, but soon he too had vanished into the black.

 

Adam ran to the edge, to look down to try and find something to hold on to. Something tripped him up. It was a body, blood bleeding from empty eye sockets. He stumbled back but something pushed him upright. It was Blue. 

 

“Adam, move. We have to—“

 

She was cut off. The beak of a creature impaled her shoulder. Adam could do nothing but watch as in pincered her and she let out a guttural scream. They both fell to the floor and Adam crawled up to her face.

 

“Blue!” BLUE!” He screamed at her to respond but her eyes were clouded with pain. 

 

Her breathing was labored, “there’s more coming. More than we’re prepared for.”

 

He looked up. She was right, everywhere Volcra were circling above the skiff, picking them off one by one.

 

“You’re a good man, Adam Parrish.”

 

Something inside him gave way, in fury, in hopelessness, in the certainty of his own death despite having already survived so much. He felt Blue’s blood beneath his palms, saw the suffering on her face. Talons sunk into his back.

 

The world went white.

 

He closed his eyes as a sudden piercing beautiful flood of light exploded across his vision. It seemed to fill his head, blinding him, drowning him. From somewhere above, there was a horrible shriek. He felt on fire, then, he felt nothing at all.

 

— 

 

Adam opened his eyes. His muscles were stiff and he could only see the canvas of a tent. For a moment he thought he was back in the orphanage, lying in his cot after a beating. The truth snapped back into him. _Blue._

 

He tried to sit up but someone shoved him back down and held him there tight.

 

“He’s awake.” A snarling, unfamiliar voice called.

 

His arms were restrained but he had enough free movement to crank his head to the direction the voice pinning him down had called. With a thrum of panic, he saw two Grisha in red _kefta_ with black embroidery marching towards him. 

 

_Where was Blue?_

 

The Grisha hauled him to his feet. “Move.”

 

“Blue Sargent?” Adam was rewarded with the butt of a rifle to his cheek from the snarling boy he’d seen earlier driving the Darkling’s coach.

 

“K, we were told not to hurt him.” Another Grisha chastised.

 

“But he’s prettier than me.” The boy whined. 

 

The Grisha led him at rifle point to a large tent. Ordinary soldiers like Adam were not usually permitted to enter, it was always guarded by the Grisha elite.

 

For a moment, Adam was lost in the luxury around him. Books littered over tables, delicate plates of food left as if someone had got bored of eating them, steaming cups of tea on top of exquisite maps. Under his feet were rich rugs and furs. _I want this_ , Adam thought. _I want all of this_. But he would have to be Grisha to get it.

 

Inside the tent was a smaller room, Adam was led in. At the head of an ornate table was a carved, high-backed chair of blackest ebony, and upon it lounged a figure in a black kefta. Only one Grisha wore black, was _permitted_ to wear black.

 

Adam forgot how to breathe. _He’s too young_. This man, who had such power, didn’t look much older than Adam. He had a sharp, beautiful face, his head was shaved closely and clear blue eyes pierced him like the talons he had felt in the back only (what he assumed was) hours earlier. _He’s not natural_.

 

“There are more,” a Colonel said beside him. “Bring them in.”

 

The brought in a very pale, tired-looking Blue. Adam’s legs went weak with relief. She was alive. 

 

“Blue—“

 

“Enough!” The voice cut him off quickly. Adam turned to see where it had come round. The Darkling was now stood, looking at him. Adam hadn’t heard him move. His gaze was focused and intense, something was burning underneath.

 

“Explain!” He was a man of few words.

 

“This boy, he… he.” The Colonel began.

 

The Darkling finally looked away from Adam and turned to the man impatiently.

 

“The Volcra was coming at us. At him. I saw it on top of him and then… he lit up.”

 

The Grisha erupted in exclamations of disbelief.The Colonel shouted over the din, “I swear it’s true.”

 

Words were thrown around — _absurd, mad, a trick, impossible, magic_. Adam was too confused to listen fully. He lit up?

 

“You’re suggesting that this boy is a Sun Summoner?” The snarling Grisha behind Adam said.

 

“I’m just telling you what I saw.”

 

Adam was tired. Weary, and not just needing sleep, he wanted to get out of here. To go far away and sit in a forest somewhere, never moving again. The light breaking through the canopy of trees to light his face. But this would be over soon, and Adam would go back to his quarters, go back across the Fold, or be tossed in some Grisha prison for whatever crime they think he’d committed.

 

“Quite.” The Darkling barely seemed to raise his voice, but the command sliced through the crowd and silence fell.

 

Adam suppressed a shiver that seemed to rise in him for a reason he couldn’t understand. Was he scared? Should he be? In front of him was such a domineering figure, but Adam just felt too tired to care.

 

The Darkling moved over to the crowd of witnesses that were across the room from Adam and stood in front of Blue. Blue squared up to him, refusing to be intimated. If this was a different day Adam would have felt proud, but now he feared for her. The image of her dying on the deck of the skiff weighed on his mind heavily. _How come she was okay?_

 

“Tell me, tiny girl,” Blue bristled at this, “what did you see?”

 

Blue glanced at her, her lips tightly closed as if she was keeping a secret. Adam felt a surge of worry, what had she seen?

 

“What happened after the Volcra attacked you?” The Darkling asked. 

 

“The world was just… shining. That’s all there is.”

 

“That’s all there is,” the Darkling scoffed.

 

The tent was eerily quiet. Adam closed his eyes. He remembered the shining, the world going white.

 

When he opened his eyes, the Darkling was stood directly in front of him. Adam hadn't heard him move, again.

 

“Now, what do _you_ say Adan Parrish.” He hadn’t expected to be called by name. Most of his fellow soldiers or commanding officers knew him by _Parrish_. Only Blue called him Adam.

 

“I didn’t do anything. This has been a mistake.” Adam held his head up high and spoke as calmly as he could.

 

The Darkling considered his answer, while never unlocking his eyes from Adam’s. How could someone so known for their darkness have such bright eyes?

 

He crossed his arms and cocked his head to one side. It made him look young, even more human.

 

“Well,” his voice was bemused, “something powerful saved you and your friend’s life Parrish. I think it was yourself.”

 

Adam shook his head and began to speak.

 

“Hold out your arm.” The youthful posture and bemusement were gone from his voice now. He was back to the sharp commanding tones of the most powerful Grisha in the world.

“What?”

 

“We’ve wasted enough time. Let’s end this. Hold out your arm.

 

Adam tried not to panic, not to give away any weakness. Shaking he held out his arm. He was used to following orders.

 

The Darkling spread his arms, and Adam saw a darkness pool in his palms. Then he leaned closer and whispered so only Adam could hear.

 

“Let’s see what you can do.” Adam shivered again.

 

He brought his hands together. Black encased Adam. He sunk to his knees as the darkness suffocated him. He was back in the orphanage, Robert standing over him with a hand wrapped around Adam’s neck. Adam felt the same terrified animal within him cringe and push outwards. Usually, that would be the end of it, Robert would let him go and the animal would be sucked back down into the pit of Adam’s stomach. But now, the Darkling only closed around him further.

 

He felt a call ring through him, and to his surprise, he felt something rise up to answer. Adam tried to push it down, fearing it was a violent anger which he always wished he hadn’t had. Adam couldn’t hold it off any longer. The world exploded into blazing white light, the darkness shattered.

 

His legs gave way and the Darkling caught him. Adam looked up into his face.

 

“I guess you only look useless.” There was something resembling joy in the boy’s face, Adam leaned into it. 

 

“Take him.” The Darkling pushed him out of his embrace and into the arms of the snarling boy Grisha. “Get my coach and take him to Aglionby.”

 

“What?” Adam protested. Aglionby was the home of the Grisha, ordinary men and woman were not allowed inside the gates.

 

The Darkling had turned his back and Adam was whisked away into the black coach waiting for him. He wanted to cry out to Blue, but the coach was already on the move.

**Author's Note:**

> Come ask me what I know about welsh kings on tumblr @homerically


End file.
